The debut short film as director from actor Mike Busson, best known to you and me for his roles in Stag Night of the Dead and Bare Naked Talent, is a little ten-minute slice of urban gothic. While it does nothing new or unexpected, it’s well-made, sympathetic to its subject and doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Simeon Willis (Stag Knight, The Invisible Atomic Monsters from Mars) stars as a homeless man on the streets of London; Canadian Bruce Lawrence (also in Stag Night of the Dead and Bare Naked Talent plus Robbie Moffat’s Sisters Grimm) and Barbara D’Alterio are a ridiculously good-looking couple out window-shopping. The paths of these three people are clearly destined to meet. The ubiquitous Forbes KB (UFO, Airborne, Game of Thrones, A Day of Violence) is also in the cast.

Busson makes good use of recognisable London locations, shooting guerilla style among the Christmas shopping crowds, with DP/editor Raymond Brown providing sterling work in handling the many different light levels of night and day shots around the metropolis. The short film’s minimalist plot, while no great surprise, is at least thought-provoking without being preachy.

SNotD’s director Neil Jones helped out as assistant director here with Paul While (Psoro, Dead Love) providing the few make-up effects needed for one scene.

A solid debut from Busson, and another fine performance from the ever-reliable Willis: definitely worth ten minutes of your time.

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My original site was launched in January 2002, transferring to Blogger eleven years later. In 2016, when I finally completed the transfer of my old content, the site had grown to 1,000+ reviews and interviews totaling more than one and a half million words. I hope you find something of interest.

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I co-founded SFX in 1995 and worked there for three years then spent 15 years as a freelance film journalist writing for Fangoria, Video Watchdog, Shivers and other mags. I now concentrate on books and scripts.

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